The OCWS has lost one of its most significant members, Dennis Esslinger, due to cancer and unrelated to the COVID pandemic. In 2017 during the Annual Business Meeting, Jim Beard, then President, awarded Dennis the highest award an OCWS President can bestow, the President Emeritus Award. Past President, Fran Gitsham, eloquently stated in 2017 that the President Emeritus title “denotes the perpetual status of an individual who has helped move the organization to new heights as a former key member on the Board of Directors. In this case, as President an unprecedented four terms (2000-01, 2002-03, 2008-09, 2013-14), with none of those terms consecutive . . . Dennis Esslinger joined the ranks of just a few who have garnered the President Emeritus title. He joins a small, elite group of past Presidents who not only gave their time and effort over a number of years, but continues to do so.”

As a recipient of the highest level year end awards, along with his wife Carol who worked with him side by side, Dennis passed away Monday, July 6, at his home.

Dennis was a longtime employee of Hughes Corporation, then Raytheon in Fullerton, working as a Project Manager until he retired. These skills served him well in various organizational and administrative capacities with the OCWS. He served on the Commercial Wine Competition Committee for well over 20 years working with others in developing the format for cataloging wines. He then took over as Chairman of the Competition and then Chairman of Judges for 10 years before turning that position over to Kevin Coy.

Dennis was very highly regarded by winemakers and winery owners which showed in the respect they have for the Commercial Wine Competition and their desire to appear for our winery tasting programs for which Dennis was in charge for a few years.

Dennis traveled the world with Carol and their children for many years in his position with Hughes. The traveling never stopped once he became active with the OCWS as he embarked upon a number of wine trips with friends to wineries, wine tastings at ZAP, and meeting with family winemakers as a member of the Commercial Wine Competition. He maintained a close circle of OCWS friends throughout the years who enjoyed his kindness, generosity, and reverence.

Raised in Kansas and a graduate of Kansas State, his work ethic and skills were valued in the OC Fair Courtyard where he and Carol put in many hours in preparing The Courtyard, setting up the wine cellar, maintaining, stewarding, managing and teaching about wine. His calm demeanor allowed him to deal with honesty and humor any time problems or disagreements arose in the OCWS or during the OC Fair. Dennis’ activities preparing for and working the Annual Wine Auction allowed this event to be our biggest single revenue producer outside The Courtyard during the OC Fair.

It would be impossible to say just how many accolades Dennis received from the OCWS, Judges, friends and co-workers. What he has contributed to the OCWS will be evident once the pandemic is under control and we return to normal activities with the OCWS.

We ask you to raise a glass of wine for Dennis and in support of Carol and the family who will need all our good thoughts and prayers.

Dennis, we will miss you terribly.

– Sam Puzzo

Greetings everyone! The OCWS has been busy continuing the work of our organization. Our office staff, Lynda Edwards and Rochelle Randel, have been working remotely to answer emails and provide support to our Board of Directors, Event Chairs and wineries. If you need assistance, please send an email to Office@ocws.org.

Working together, Charles English our bookkeeper, Mel Jay, Treasurer, and Dave Stancil, Finance Committee Chair have been paying our bills and monitoring our finances. Over the years, wise and prudent leadership in the organization allowed us to build up our reserves to weather these difficult times. I am pleased to report that as a result, we are in sound financial shape.

I have been working monthly with the OCFEC staff to schedule future events through 2021. We have been able to gain access to our office and cellar on a monthly basis to ensure that they are safe and secure. Like most of us individually, the OCFEC is waiting on guidance from state and local authorities that will allow activities to resume. As with businesses and wineries  throughout the state, everyone is eager to resume operations when it is safe to do so. This year the Annual Business Meeting will most likely need to be done “virtually.” We are in the process of working on the logistics and will provide more details as the meeting, scheduled for September 11, gets closer.

This summer, the OC Fair is Going Virtual!  The OCWS has been invited to be part of this virtual event and Sara Yeoman, Director, is working towards providing video content in July 2020. We are also working on a number of “virtual” events starting at the end of June for our membership. Please look for these events which will be posted on our website from the main menu Zoom Seminars.

It is once again time to invite our membership to become members of our Board of Directors. Please see Greg Hagadorn’s article and consider running for the Board this year. As the candidates declare, we will be posting their candidate statements on the OCWS website. Cheers,

 – Bill Redding, President

Lately when reading online news, every now and then an interesting headline appears that I thought worthy of sharing—in case you missed it!

Ever hear of the “Cannonball Run?” It’s the New York to Los Angeles cross-country drive that has set a new pandemic-aided record in April. The new record beat the old record, set in November of last year, by more than 45 minutes. The drive was made in 26 hours and 38 minutes due to lack of traffic. It was reported that there were three to four drivers who made the drive, averaging an illegal speed of 106 miles per hour, covering 2,825.3 miles. Amazing!

Have you pulled out your old puzzles recently from the closet or ordered new ones to work on during your stay-at-home restriction? The New York Times published an interesting article recently on how jigsaw puzzles are made. Apparently the demand for puzzles has skyrocketed to levels not seen since Christmas, and with the world under lockdown, they’re been viewed as a new tool to save humanity.

A brief excerpt from the article is about a German company known for puzzle production, that “can’t easily ramp up production, because each new puzzle takes weeks to create. Each puzzle piece must be uniquely shaped, to avoid one accidentally fitting into the wrong place. That means 1,000 different shapes for a 1,000-piece puzzle, each drawn by hand by workers. Before a puzzle is cut for the first time, each piece is sketched on a sheet of paper draped over the finished image.” Who knew!

It would be remiss of me not to include a wine related headline which especially caught my attention. I did not want my inbox to light up to have to remind me that we are a wine organization, and that this space predominately addresses wine related events, home winemaking and education. Or the “red” landline phone ringing, fearing to answer knowing the President Bill Redding might have the current edition of The Wine Press in front of him, while enjoying a glass of wine, that didn’t make mention of wine in any form in an article.

Do you recall reading Love in the Time of Cholera, a novel by Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez? Did you see the movie titled the same? An online publication, Spirited, featured an article with a catchy title Wine in the Time of Pandemic  which led me to read on. Aside from delivering how California wineries are adapting to the “new norm” with curbside pickup, virtual wine offerings and discounts, the article reminded me to “keep calm and keep the corkscrew handy.” Laura Ness, the writer of the article, keeps a corkscrew handy in every purse and jacket she owns. Hint, hint!

Moving on . . . did you know that the whales are thriving without cruise and cargo ship traffic? Lonely Planet is reporting that “wildlife are having a whale of a time—quite literally. A reduction in container and cruise ship traffic has provided a vacation of sorts for vulnerable cetaceans, and an opportunity for scientists to learn more about how marine noise pollution impacts ocean species.”

And there’s less rumbling on the earth’s surface—seismologists who study seismic signals from the earth’s interior report that quarantines seem to have made it easier to listen! There’s less air pollution, and city soundscapes are changing—it’s a whole lot quieter. This may be a good thing or a bad thing depending on preference to quiet or surrounding noise! The Atlantic published this interesting read entitled “The Pandemic is Turning the Natural World Upside Down.”

I am among the many who are currently working from home during the stay-at-home restriction. While enjoying a glass of wine, I try and catch up on positive COVID-19 related newsworthy articles.

My hope is that this article brings into your homes a “distraction” from what we are all facing today.

– Linda Mihalik, Editor